Basic Information
The Lady of War is a more refined type of Action Girl. She has an aristocratic bearing and her weapons of choice emphasize grace and beauty of motion. She possesses a sense of savoir-faire far beyond your typical chick in a chainmail bikini. Sometimes she's arrogant and snobbish, other times gentle and polite, depending on her temperament. She may or may not be an actual princess; but she probably gets called one.
This is also the distaff counterpart of the warlord - a female war leader in command of an army (or at least a warband). In this case, she may not be much actual use in a fight, but has the status and charisma to gather a force and, presumably, the tactical and strategic competence to lead it in action (or at least the ability to pick competent subordinates).
To the classical Greeks this was very much the hat for the goddess Athena.
Sources
Game and Story Use
- The Lady of War makes a good PC character type. Her refined manners could possibly cause clashes with less couth party members, so some care should be taken to ensure that in-party bickering between the prissy elf and the slovenly barbarian don't get out of hand.
- As an NPC, she could be either a support character or the Lieutenant of the Big Bad Evil Guy.
- As always, if an NPC is intended to be supporting the PCs, make sure that she does not overshadow them. The players need to be the ones moving the plot.
- The weapons wielded by the Lady of War should emphasize her beauty and grace. Tire irons and chainsaws are right out.
- A rapier or a thin-bladed longsword makes an elegant weapon.
- So does a bow, or other ranged weapons (for fantasy tropes at least - in reality a bow can be a bit tricky for a woman … the Amazons cut a breast off for a reason..).
- If the Lady of War is a martial artist, choose a style that emphasizes grace of movement, such as Tai Chi
- A Lady of War makes a good character type for a combat mage, specializing in ranged spells.
- Examples of the female general can also be found in history and fiction - Zenobia of Palmyra and Aethelflaed of Mercia make good starting points, even Elizabeth I acting the role when marshalling her army at Tilbury.